首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Philosophy of Logical Analysis Modern physics and physiology throw a new light upon the ancient problem of perception. If th
Philosophy of Logical Analysis Modern physics and physiology throw a new light upon the ancient problem of perception. If th
admin
2013-04-25
32
问题
Philosophy of Logical Analysis
Modern physics and physiology throw a new light upon the ancient problem of perception. If there is to be anything that can be called "perception", it must be in some degree an effect of the object perceived, and it must more or less resemble the object if it is to be a source of knowledge of the object. The first requisite can only be fulfilled if there are causal chains which are, to a greater or lesser extent, independent of the rest of the world. According to physics, this is the case.
Modern analytical empiricism differs from that of Locke, Berkeley, and Hume by its incorporation of mathematics and its development of a powerful logical technique. It is thus able, in regard to certain problems, to achieve definite answers, which have the quality of science rather than philosophy.
It has the advantage; as compared with philosophies of system-builders, of being able to tackle its problems one at a time, instead of having to invent at one stroke a block theory of the whole universe.
Its methods, in this respect, resemble those of science.
There remains, however, a vast field, traditionally included in philosophy, where scientific methods are inadequate. This field includes ultimate questions of value; science alone, for example, cannot prove that it is bad to enjoy the infliction cruelty. Whatever can be known, can be known by means of science; but things which are legitimately matters of feeling lie outside its province.
Philosophy, throughout its history, has consisted of two parts inharmoniously blended: on the one hand, a theory as to the nature of the world, on the other hand, an ethical or political doctrine as to the best way of living.
(A)The failure to separate these two with sufficient clarity has been a source of much confused thinking.
(B)Philosophers, from Plato to William James, have allowed their opinions as to the constitution of the universe to be influenced by the desire for
edification
: knowing, as they supposed, what beliefs would make men virtuous, they have invented arguments, often very sophisticated, to prove that these beliefs are true.
(C)Morally, a philosopher who uses his professional competence for anything except a disinterested search for truth is guilty of a kind of treachery. And when he assumes, in advance of inquiry, that certain beliefs, whether true or false, are such as to promote good behavior, he is so limiting the scope of philosophical speculation as to make philosophy trivial; the true philosopher is prepared to examine all preconceptions.
(D)When any limits are placed, consciously or unconsciously, upon the pursuit of truth, philosophy becomes
paralyzed
by fear, and the ground is prepared for a government censorship punishing those who utter "dangerous thoughts" -in fact, the philosopher has already placed such a censorship over his own investigations.
Intellectually, the effect of mistaken moral considerations upon philosophy has been to impede progress to an extraordinary extent. I do not myself believe that philosophy can either prove or disapprove the truth of religious dogmas, but ever since Plato most philosophers have considered it part of their business to produce "proofs" of immortality and the existence of God. They have found fault with the proofs of their predecessors—Saint Thomas rejected Saint Anselm’s proofs, and Kant rejected Descartes’—but they have supplied new ones of their own. In order to make their proofs seem valid, they have had to falsify logic, to make mathematics mystical, and to pretend that deep-seated prejudices were heaven-sent intuitions.
All this is rejected by the philosophers who make logical analysis the main business of philosophy. They confess frankly that the human intellect is of profound importance to mankind, but they refuse to believe that there is some "higher" way of knowing, by which we can discover truths hidden from science and the intellect. For this renunciation, they have been rewarded by the discovery that many questions, formerly obscured by the fog of metaphysics, can be answered with precision, and by objective methods which .introduce nothing of the philosophers’ temperament except the desire to understand. Take such questions as. What is a number? What are space and time? What is mind, and what is matter? I do not say that we can here and now give definite answers to all these ancient questions, but I do say that a method has been discovered by which, as in science, we can make successive approximations to the truth.
The word edification in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.
选项
A、new information
B、moral improvement
C、complex knowledge
D、personal belief
答案
B
解析
本题为词汇题,主要考查考生根据上下文对单词edification的理解。该词所在句“Philosophers, from Plato to William James, have allowed their opinions as to the constitution of the universe to be influenced by the desire for edification...”意为:“从柏拉图到威廉·詹姆斯,哲学家们允许他们关于宇宙构成的观点受到渴望edification的影响”,即他们认为他们的思想能够得到升华。edification意为“(道德或精神方面的)启蒙,熏陶,改进”,在此上下文中,指“品德高尚”,即选项B中的“道德的提升”。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/TMyO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Choosethecorrectletter,A,B,CorD.Writethecorrectletterinboxonyouranswersheet.Whatisthemainideaofthepass
TheStudyofChimpanzeeCultureA.Afterstudyingthesimilaritiesbetweenchimpanzeesandhumansforyears,researchershav
TheStudyofChimpanzeeCultureA.Afterstudyingthesimilaritiesbetweenchimpanzeesandhumansforyears,researchershav
Thestoryillustratesthatdogsare______animals.Thepeopleofthetownbuilta______ofadog.
Whichmemberormembersofthespeaker’sfamilyhavehealthproblems?Beforeleaving,thespeakerandhisfamilygotinformatio
Whichmemberormembersofthespeaker’sfamilyhavehealthproblems?Howdidthespeaker’sfamilyfirstfindoutabouttheWai
WhenwasMichael’slastspacemission?WherearetheproblemsofgettingtoMarsgoingtobestudied?
TheproblemthatConstableGraydescribesis
TheproblemthatConstableGraydescribesis
随机试题
《关于取消高等教育学历文凭考试的通知》中要求,已具有文凭考试试点资格的民办高等教育机构,2004年可继续适度招收文凭考试学生。自2005年开始,所有进行文凭考试试点的民办高等教育机构,一律终止招收文凭考试学生。可以认为:取消高等教育学历文凭考试,民办教育因
Kellywenttothe________justnow.
患者,李某,男性,30岁,因大叶性肺炎住院治疗。测T38.7℃,P95次/分,R26次/分:面色潮红,神志清楚,咳铁锈色痰,患者4天未排大便。根据此病例提出2个主要的护理诊断,并制定相应的护理措施。
患者,女,67岁,全牙列缺失,全口义齿修复。影响全口义齿固位的因素不包括A.颌骨的解剖形态B.口腔黏膜的性质C.基托边缘伸展的范围,厚薄和形态D.唾液的质和量E.排列人工牙的大小
某再生障碍性贫血患者,贫血程度较重,给予丙酸睾丸素治疗,该药的正确使用方法是
某素填土建筑地基,地下水位埋深20m,拟采用夯实水泥土桩法处理地基。初步设计时,桩直径为0.4m,按正方形布桩,水泥土桩单桩承载力特征值为500kPa,桩问土承载力特征值为120kPa,桩问土承载力发挥系数β=0.9。按《建筑地基处理技术规范》JGJ29—
最早对个案工作进行清晰界定的学者是()。
Walking,ifyoudoitvigorouslyenough,istheoverallbestexerciseforregularphysicalactivity.Itrequiresnoequipment,e
TheLureofaBigCityVacation[FromtheTowerofLondontoParis’EiffelTower,historiclandmarksandone-of-a-kindattrac
【B1】【B2】
最新回复
(
0
)